London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

The Queen has given the royal seal of approval to a honey made on the tiny island settled by mutineers of the Bounty.

The breakfast ingredient is a favourite of Her Majesty, and she and Prince Charles have become such fans of the variety produced on the Pitcairn Islands they have both written to its residents to tell them how much they enjoy it. Pitcairn Honey has been available at Fortnum & Mason since before Christmas and was first sold by another royal supplier, Partridges in Sloane Square.

Megan Oliver, Fortnum's assistant buyer for sweet grocery, said: "As the island is so cut off from anywhere else the bees can only collect the pollen from the organic plants on the island. The taste is very fruity, floral and tropical."

Pitcairn, a British Overseas Territory in the south Pacific, has just 50 residents, some of whom are descendants of Bounty mutineer Fletcher Christian who settled there in 1790.

The population was taught how to produce honey by a beekeeping expert, paid for by the British Government, to help rescue their economy after a slump in their traditional source of income, stamp sales.